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Ex-LAPD Cop Hunt: Dorner Accused Of Killings

A huge manhunt is under way for a former Los Angeles policeman who is believed to have killed three people in revenge for his dismissal from the force.

Christopher Dorner, 33, is suspected of killing a former police captain's daughter and her fiance last weekend, and killing a police officer yesterday.

The search for the 33-year-old stretches throughout Southern California and Nevada.

Dorner's burnt-out pickup truck has been found near Big Bear Lake ski resort, 80 miles east of Los Angeles, prompting the lockdown of schools and several buildings in the area.

San Bernardino county sheriff John McMahon said that 125 law enforcement officers were combing the area for Dorner and conducting door-to-door inquiries.

Christopher Dorner was sacked from the Los Angeles police force in 2008 and published a manifesto on his Facebook page promising to wage war on his former colleagues.

"I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty," said the manifesto.

"Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see my name cleared. That's what this is about, my name. A man is nothing without his name."

LAPD police chief Charlie Beck said Dorner, who has military training, has access to multiple weapons including an assault rifle, adding he should be considered "armed and extremely dangerous".

More than 40 protection officers have been dispatched to protect more than 40 potential targets across the region. The department has also pulled officers from motorbike duty, fearing they could make for easy targets.

Dorner is wanted in the killings of Monica Quan and her fiance, Keith Lawrence. They were found shot in their car at their condominium on Sunday night in Irvine, authorities said.

Ms Quan, 28, was an assistant women's basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton. Mr Lawrence, 27, was a public safety officer at the University of Southern California.

Ms Quan's father, a former LAPD captain who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal in 2008, LAPD Captain William Hayes told The Associated Press.

Authorities also said Dorner opened fire early on Thursday on police in cities east of Los Angeles, killing an officer and wounding another.

Meanwhile, a wallet containing a detective badge and a picture ID belonging to Dorner was handed in to police in San Diego less than four hours after a man matching his description attempted to steal a 47-ft boat from the city's Shelter Island marina.

San Diego detective Garry Hassen said the suspect tied up an 81-year-old man who was on the boat and then fled after the engine failed to start.

Nevada authorities have also joined the search for Dorner, who owns a house nine miles from the Las Vegas Strip, according to authorities and court records.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field training officer, Sgt Teresa Evans.

Dorner said that in the course of an arrest, Sgt Evans kicked suspect Christopher Gettler, a schizophrenic with severe dementia.